Settled

We get this question a lot about our new home: "Are you settled in yet?"

I am sure that when I answer the question, it is awkward at best.  I guess I don't want anyone to think that this was easy and uneventful as moves go.

Truthfully, we were settled in our new home very quickly.  We may still have had a box or two sitting around the house for awhile, but after 10 years in our last house, there were some boxes and pieces of furniture that were still not in place (that may be the case here when we look back).

We were both working our regular schedules within days after the moving truck was emptied.  We discovered the community and the surrounding area in a short amount of time.  We discovered new restaurants and shopping within the first few days.  In a matter of weeks, this was home.

As a United Methodist preacher, who has moved from place to place over the years, moving and starting over is something I know how to do.  As a military brat for the first part of my life, we moved more frequently than I do now.  It comes naturally.  If you ever get Rose to tell you about all of the moves she has made in her life, you will realize that moving and starting over is something she knows too.

There are some things that make it easier for a pastor to move:

  1. Some of the things we do don't change drastically from place to place.  We preach on Sundays, visit the sick and shut-in, go to meetings, and make disciples of Jesus.  We can do this in Waynesville as well as Wadesboro, in Tryon or Terrell.
  2. Every congregation has people.  Some congregations may be larger or smaller.  Some may have more young people than others. In the end, we are called to serve the folks who have been assigned to us.  I have never served a church that didn't have a cast of characters and unique people that made the task challenging and comforting at the same time.
  3. Every congregation is surrounded by some kind of community.  Some may be more rural and where there is more space between homes, and sometimes they might be urban or suburban.  If we are doing our job correctly, we are reaching out to a whole community with our ministry. There is no place that I have served that I made the impact I wish I had. It is a never ending job.  There is security knowing that you will never run out of opportunities, no matter where you go.
So, are we settled?

Yes. There is no place I would rather be right now in my life.  I can't think of a better group of people to be serving God with than the folks at Rehobeth.  There is no more exciting place than this community.

It is my hope that you feel the same way about your place in life and faith, and that together we can make an impact on our community.








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